Disappear Into the Darkness
by Queen High Rolla
Summary: It seemed like a regular night...
1. Prolouge

Disappear Into the Darkness  
  
~Prologue~  
  
It was a deep, dark evening and he was so tired. He couldn't wait to get back to the hotel, to get some sleep. He would call his wife, eat something, watch some late-night TV and fall asleep on the couch. He knew he had to get up early that next morning to sign some autographs, so there was no time to waste.  
He was always one of the last ones to leave the arena, and, in fact, tonight he was alone. He couldn't, however, shake off the chilling feeling that someone was watching him. He figured it was just the fatigue, so he pushed the thought to the back of his mind.  
The cold air greeted him as he entered the parking lot. There were a few cars in the parking lot, so he wasn't completely alone. That comforted him until he heard footsteps. Maybe it was just in his head.maybe. He quickened his pace a bit while scanning the darkness for his car. He couldn't find it anywhere. He was thinking of calling someone when he felt someone's breath on the back of his neck. The feeling sent a chill down his spine. He thought of running, but by then, it was too late. 


	2. Chapter 1

~Chapter 1~  
  
Vince McMahon paced around back and forth, trying to get a good view of all of his employees. Mostly everyone looked happy, but they didn't know what was going on. They had no clue. "Okay, everyone. The reason I brought you all here is because I have some bad news. Last night, Dwayne Johnson was kidnapped." He looked around the room, seeing everyone's shocked expressions and a myriad of "What? How? When?" He waited until there was partial silence before he continued. " Now, we don't have a lot of information at this time. All we know is that he was the last to leave and that he was kidnapped in the parking lot. We don't.Hall, Waltman, Nash? What do you think is so funny about this?" He asked, giving a mean look to the three men. "Um.I wasn't laughing. That was Sean." Scott said. "What?! That was not me!" Sean yelled. "Yes, it was. It was Sean. Not me." Kevin chimed in. "Sean, what is so funny? Because it just so happens I don't think any of this is funny." Vince said. "Neither do I, its just that.um.help me out, guys." "It's just that Sean laughs at things that aren't funny." Scott interrupted. "Thanks a lot." Sean muttered under his breath. "Anyway, do any of you have any questions?" Vince continued. "Um, yeah. I do." Chris Irvine said, standing up. "How is this effecting our schedule?" "Good question, Chris. All of the house shows have been canceled this weekend. Everyone will meet again on Monday and the schedule continues normally from there. So you have a weekend off. Any other questions.go ahead, Scott." "Yeah, um, how was Dwayne kidnapped?" Sean and Kevin started snickering. "What? It's a good question!" "Scott, if you were listening earlier, you would know that, as of now we don't know! Any other questions.put your hand down, Scott." "But it's a good one!" "Paul?" "What kinds of measures are being taken to prevent this from happening again?" Paul Levesque asked. "Great question, Paul. I've hired security to go to all of the arenas, gyms, and hotels we're gonna be traveling to. So technically, they are following the same schedule we are, without the wrestling. And also, I want everyone to have someone else to travel with. No one should travel alone. I'm hoping this prevents anything like this from happening again." "Oh, okay. Thanks Vince." Paul said. "No problem, Paul. Any other questions?" He looked around, and saw Scott was still raising his hand. "No, Scott. Okay, have a great weekend everyone!"  
  
"Thanks a lot, guys." Sean said after the meeting. "Hey, Vince hates me enough already. I don't wanna get in more trouble." "How about you, Kev? What's your reason?" "I don't have one." "You know, Scott, you're really gonna get in a lot of trouble if you keep doing that." Joanie Laurer said, walking up to them. "When are you guys gonna get it?! Vince hates me! I could have asked the same question Paul did and he wouldn't have answered me!" Scott yelled. "You know, Scott, your question was pretty dumb. That's why we were laughing." Kevin told him. "I'm sorry, Kev, I'm not Paul." "What's that supposed to mean?" Joanie asked. "Well, simply put, Paul is a suck-up. And Vince likes him because of it. If Paul has a question, Vince drops whatever he's doing to answer it. If Paul wants something, he gets it. If Paul wanted a month off, Vince would give it to him." "So? Did you ever think that Vince just likes Paul? Because he is not a suck-up." "Yes, he is." "No, he's not." "Fine, think what you want, Joanie. But Paul is a suck-up."  
Suddenly, Paul came over to where all his friends were. "Hey guys. What are we talking about?" "Dwayne." Scott said. "The meeting." Kevin said. "Nothing." Sean said. "Joanie, what are we talking about?" "Um, the meeting?" "Right." He then noticed Joanie walk off. "So what are you guys doing over the weekend?" "Nothing." All three of them said almost simultaneously. "Okay, Scott, you never do anything. But Kevin?" "What? I wasn't expecting the time off." "What about you, Sean? No divorce papers?" "Ha-ha. Very funny. I don't have any divorce papers to sign this weekend. But what are you doing, Paul?" "Well, I was thinking of taking Joanie out to dinner." "Twenty bucks something goes wrong." Sean said. "Deal." Kevin said. "Hey! Things will go fine. And at least I have a girlfriend!" "That is so childish, Paul!" Scott yelled as Paul left. "Suck-up." Kevin added.  
Paul walked away from his friends to where Joanie was standing. "Hey, how would you like to go out to dinner this weekend?" "Really? We haven't done that in years. Just us on a romantic dinner. That'd be great." "I know. So, you wanna get going?" "Sure, just let me go get my stuff." "Okay, I'll come too." Paul said. Just then, Stephanie McMahon, the bosses' daughter, walked up to the couple. "Hi, Paul. Sorry to bother you, but I had to give you this." "What is it?" "It's the script for Monday night. It's been changed a little bit. Bye." She said, walking off. "You coming?" Joanie asked. "Nah, you go ahead. I'm gonna check this out." "Okay." Paul opened up the envelope and unfolded the paper. "Dear Paul, If words could describe what I feel for you, I'd write them. But I can't. I know you're involved in another relationship, but I can't help how I feel. I can't help falling in love with you.  
Love, Steph."  
A love letter. Paul stood there, blinking, hoping that blinking would change the message. It didn't. He looked in the envelope; it was empty. There was no change of script, Stephanie was lying. "Since when have the scripts been hand-written?" Joanie asked, looking over Paul's shoulder. "Joanie! You scared me!" "Sorry." "It was a last-minute change, so Steph just wrote it." "It's awfully small for a script." "There are only a few changes." "Looks more like a paragraph." "Joanie, look, I need to talk to Sean. I'll be right back."  
  
"Read this." Paul said, shoving the letter in Sean's face. "Wow, did you write this?" "Yes, I wrote a love letter to myself from myself." "It was a joke. Is this for the storyline?" "No, it isn't. It has nothing to do with the storyline. Steph is in love with me." Paul said, now noticing that Sean was laughing. "What? What's so funny?" "Steph being in love with you, that's a good one Paul.You're not kidding, are you?" "No, I'm not. So what am I supposed to do?" "Well, that depends. Do you have any feelings for her?" "No." "Then tell Joanie about it. It's not like you cheated on her or anything like that." "I know, but Joanie hates Steph, so she's not gonna like this." "Just tell her. You didn't do anything wrong." Sean said, walking off. "What does Sean know?" Paul thought to himself. "Afterall, he's getting a divorce, so he obviously doesn't know what he's talking about." 


	3. Chapter 2

~Chapter 2~  
  
Paul and Joanie arrived at their house early that Saturday morning, ready for the weekend. Joanie was the first in the house; and the door opened without difficulty. "Paul? Did you leave the door unlocked?" "No." "Are you sure? I know you do that sometimes." "Joanie, trust me. I didn't know when we were coming back home; there's no way I'd leave the door unlocked. Why?" But by then, Joanie had gone into the kitchen. "The windows are open, too." "Well, that wasn't me." "Are you positive you didn't leave the door unlocked and the windows open?" "I could've.but I doubt it." He knew Joanie didn't hear him because she was heading upstairs. "Where are you going?" "Upstairs. I'm checking if anything's different there." She soon descended down the stairs. "Nothing." "Joanie, you're over-reacting. It was probably just some kid." "Well, Paul, I find it a bit ironic that Dwayne was kidnapped and someone tried to bust in." "Me too. But the two have nothing to do with each other, okay? Let's just try to have a nice, peaceful weekend and forget about this." "Fine."  
Evening quickly approached and soon the couple went to the restaurant Paul had made reservations for since after the meeting. It took two hours to order and get seated, but they were finally there. "This is nice. We haven't been out to dinner in a long time." Paul said. "I know. This is nice." "So, now that we can finally talk, what do you want to talk about?" "Wow, any other day I'd have a thousand things. Now I can't think of anything." "I can." Paul thought to himself, unable to get Stephanie's love letter off his mind. "You okay?" He noticed that this was the third time she had started staring off into the distance. "Yeah, I.I just have a lot on my mind." "Like what?" "This whole kidnapping thing. The break-in." "Forget about that! Like I said earlier, they're not connected." "I know. It's just weird." "Well, you know, if you're scared, this guy's gonna get you. He preys on fear." "That's not funny, Paul." "Sorry, just trying to cheer you up." "Well, that's not helping." "You're not having a good time, are you?" "Not at all. You?" "Nope. Wanna get out of here?" "Yes. Let's go." "All right. I don't wanna have to pay." "So let the whole restaurant know." She told him, sarcasm in her voice. "Alright, alright. Let's just go."  
It was a cold, brisk night, the same kind of evening when Dwayne was kidnapped. "That was fun". Joanie joked once they were in the car. "Wasn't it?" Suddenly, Paul's cell phone rang. "Hello?" "Paul? Hi, this is Vince. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there's more. Terri's been kidnapped." "What?! How?" "I just don't know. I really don't. And the worst part is she just disappeared without a trace. At least with Dwayne, I knew he was kidnapped in the parking lot. Terri could've been kidnapped in the arena, on her way home, at home."His voice trailed off. "Hey, Vince, it's not your fault." "I know." "Why are you calling me anyway?" "I'm calling everyone. I know its Saturday night, but this can't exactly wait 'til Monday." "Oh, okay." "Hey, could you tell Joanie what's goin' on? That would really save me some time." "Sure thing, Vince." "Alright, sounds good. Bye." "Bye." "What did Vince want?" Joanie asked Paul after he hung up. "Bad news. Terri's been kidnapped." "How?" "I dunno. Nobody knows. Not Vince, not the police, nobody." "Well, this has just been the best weekend ever, hasn't it been?" "Yes. Definitely."  
  
"So, how was your weekend?" Sean asked Monday afternoon. "Eh." "How was dinner?" "Bad." Paul said, and watched as Kevin gave Sean some money, which he stuck in his pocket. "So you guys were betting dinner would be bad?" "I thought dinner would go well." Kevin replied. "I have nothing to do with it." Scott added. "Hey, Paul? Can I talk to you for a minute.alone?" Sean asked. "Yeah, sure." He motioned for Kevin and Scott to leave, but when they wouldn't budge, Paul walked away. "What's up?" "Did you tell her?" "Are you crazy? I told you Friday that I wasn't gonna tell her!" "Why, its not like you did anything.you did? Didn't you? You were with Steph this weekend, weren't you?" "No!" "Then why was your weekend so bad?" "Well, someone broke in?" "How?" "I dunno. But, luckily, nothing was stolen." "Did you call the police?" "No. I don't have any evidence that someone was in the house. The police could just say that I left the door unlocked and the window open." "Maybe Steph robbed you." Paul gave him an angry look. "Hey, I was just joking around." "Well, it's not funny." "Sorry." "Look, I was thinking a lot about all this over the weekend. I decided I'm gonna tell Stephanie that its never gonna happen. I'm tired of having such a guilty conscience when I didn't even do anything." "That's fair." "Yeah. Well, I gotta go. Bye Sean." "Bye." Paul walked to Stephanie's locker room/office. He was so nervous, but she seemed happy to see him. "Hi Paul. Did you get the 'script'?" "It was no script. It was a love letter." "Then you did get it." "That's right." "And?" "And its never gonna happen. Look, I'm in love with Joanie and she's in love with me. We're very happy together. We're even talking about getting married soon." "What does she have that I don't?" Paul had no answer to that. "I'm sorry, Stephanie." "Why do you have to be with her? I mean, its clear that we should be together." "No, we can't be together." He said, opening the door to leave. "Tell me if you change your mind." "I won't."  
Paul was surprised to find Sean waiting outside the door. "Don't you ever go away?" Paul asked sarcastically. "Nope. Good job. That takes care of that." "Not yet." He said as he took the letter out of his pocket and threw it toward the garbage can. "Out of sight, out of mind."  
Joanie had been looking for Paul for a while now. She had to see him before the show began. She couldn't explain why; it was just a certain unease she felt. She turned the corner and stepped on something. She picked up the crumpled paper ball to see what it was. She felt her heart break more and more with each word she read. When she finished, she had to reread it to make sure it was real. It was. It was Stephanie's letter to Paul. 


	4. Chapter 3

~Chapter 3~  
  
"Paul? Paul, where are you?!" Joanie started quickly searching around the arena for her boyfriend. She bumped into Sean, but she proceeded to search for Paul anyway, until Sean spoke up. "Hey, Joanie. What's wrong?" "Have you seen Paul?" "No, why?" "I need to talk to him."  
Joanie found Paul outside of his locker room, casually talking to Kevin, unaware of all the damage he had just inadvertently caused. "There you are!" "Yeah, what's going on?" Paul asked, oblivious to what was happening. "What's going on?! Look at this!" Joanie yelled, shoving the letter in Paul's face. "What's this? How did you find this? I thought I threw it in the.oh. I must have missed the garbage can." "Obviously, Paul." "Look, this is nothing. This whole letter, it means nothing." "So how long have you had this?" "What?" "How long have you had the letter?" "I dunno.I can't remember." "Yes you do." "Friday.maybe. I could be wrong, though." "That was the 'script', wasn't it?" "Perhaps.maybe.yeah." "Paul, why wouldn't you tell me about this? Something happened between you two, didn't it?" "No! Why does everyone keep accusing me of that?! Nothing happened, and nothing is gonna happen. Me and Steph already cleared that up." "You were talking to her?!" "Yeah, to tell her that we could never be together, that's all. Nothing more than that." "I can't believe you, Paul. First you lie to me, then you talk to Stephanie behind my back?" "Yeah, but, it's just because I didn't wanna hurt you." "Well, it's too late for that, Paul. Why couldn't you tell me about the letter if nothing happened with you and her?" "Because.I was afraid this would happen." "You don't trust me enough to tell me, do you?" "No, I trust you completely. I just didn't want you to get hurt, but suddenly, that doesn't seem like a good reason anymore." "It isn't." "You know, all I was trying to do was eliminate this problem before you found out about it! That's it! I didn't want you to get mad, but now you are. Okay, I could just have forgotten all about this, pretend it never happened, and just try to keep goin' with our relationship. But I felt bad, so I told Stephanie that we can't be together, and now that isn't even good enough for you! I don't have to take this anymore, and I'm not gonna." "Paul, what do you mean?" "I don't have to take this anymore. I was just trying to help." "So lying and doing things behind my back is gonna help?" "Shut up! Just shut up! I hate you!" Paul yelled, storming off into his locker room. Joanie stood there for a moment or two, tears swelling up in her eyes, and she too went off in a different direction opposite from Paul's.  
  
"Sean, Sean! You missed it! It was the best fight ever!" Kevin said to Sean a short while later after the big fight. "A fight? Really? With who?" "Paul and Joanie." "Not a physical fight, right?" "Right." "Oh, you made it sound like it was a physical fight." "Nope, verbal." "Was it bad?" "Yeah, really bad." "Maybe we should go talk to 'em." "Yeah, okay. You go talk to Joanie and I'll talk to Paul." "Alright."  
Sean went to Joanie's locker room, and was surprised to find that he was actually a bit nervous despite what he was feeling; he knocked on the door anyway. "Who is it?" Joanie asked from behind the door. "It's Sean." "What do you want?" "To talk to you. Can I come in?" "Yeah, sure." Sean came into the room and quickly saw that Joanie had been crying. He wasn't sure what to say to her to comfort her, especially since he wasn't even there when the fight happened. "So.Kev told me you and Paul got in a fight." "Yeah." "He said it was pretty bad." "It was." "What happened?" "I found Paul's little love letter from Stephanie." "Oh, that.but how?" "He missed when he threw it in the trash." "That makes sense." "So I confronted him, then he told me that he had talked to Stephanie." "Yeah, he talked to her to tell her that they couldn't be together." "So why couldn't he just tell me that?" "I dunno." "Wait.you knew about all this?" "Yeah, kinda. But only 'cause we're best friends." "If nothing is goin' on with them, then why would he choose not to tell me about the letter?" "I dunno. He didn't want to hurt you, I guess." "That's what he says, too. I just don't like that he's hiding things from me." "He probably shouldn't have done that. But there's not much you can do about now." "I know, but.you don't think he hates me, do you?" "No, why? Did he say that?" "Yeah." "But people says stuff they don't mean when they're mad. He definitely didn't mean that." "I hope so." Joanie said, wiping her eyes with a tissue. "Things are gonna work out, don't worry about that." "Yeah, but, what if they don't?" "They will, trust me." Sean wrapped his arms around Joanie and held her close to him. For some reason, though, he felt something different. He wasn't sure what it was, either. "You gonna be okay?" "Yeah, I'll be fine." "Okay, bye." "Bye Sean." Joanie said as Sean escaped out the door. He was happy to get out there as quickly as possible, because he didn't know exactly what he felt in there, but it couldn't be good. 


	5. Chapter 4

~Chapter 4~  
  
"I hate her! I really do!" Paul yelled once Kevin came to talk to him. "C'mon, you know you don't really mean that." Kevin said. "Yes, I do. Maybe I won't feel this way later, but I sure hate her now! I mean, all I tried to do was help. All I was trying to do was keep our relationship alive. But look what she does. I try to get Stephanie to stay away from me so things would be good between me and Joanie, and even that isn't good enough for her!" "Well.you do have a point there." "Did I not try to keep her from getting hurt?" "You did." "Exactly. I didn't want her to think I was cheating on her, and now, not only does she think that I am cheating on her, but she claims that I don't trust her. Now how am I supposed to fix that?" "I dunno. I'm not exactly a relationship expert, Paul." "And I don't know what to do either. But I'll tell you one thing I'm not gonna do, and that is apologize. She should have to apologize to me." "You're right."  
After thinking everything that had just happened, Joanie finally decided to take Sean's advice and go talk to Paul. She wasn't sure if he would even talk to her or not, but it was worth a try. She found Paul standing outside of his locker room, alone. "Paul, we need to talk." "No, we don't. I have nothing to say to you, Joanie." "What?" "You heard me. I need some space right now, some time to myself to think about everything that happened. I'll talk to you then." "Well, how long is that gonna take?" "I dunno. But the sooner you leave, the more time I will have to think about things." "Fine." Joanie said, unable to believe how cruel Paul had just treated her. She had never seen him act so cold before, and she didn't like it. She should have known that he wasn't going to be ready to talk to her yet, and, knowing how stubborn Paul could be, she knew that he probably wouldn't talk to her until she apologizes. Not like that was much of a problem. Joanie had no problem apologizing to Paul, but she felt that she did nothing wrong. She was just telling him how she truly felt, and he didn't seem to like it.  
When Joanie returned back to her locker room, she was shocked when she saw the message on her mirror. In red, the words I hate you were scrawled on. Joanie was terrified for a second; until she thought about it. And as she left her locker room yet again, she was livid. "Oh no, you again. Do you not know 'what leave me alone' means?" Paul asked once she approached him again. "How could you do that?" "Do what?" "Don't play dumb with me Paul. It's not gonna work." "I'm not playing dumb. What did I do?" "The message on my mirror." "I have no clue what you are talking about." "Fine. Then maybe I'll just show you."  
When Paul arrived back to Joanie's locker room, he too was shocked by what he saw. "I didn't do that." "Yeah, right! You were mad at me so you decided to display your sick sense of humor by writing 'I hate you' on the mirror." "I swear it wasn't me." "I don't care what you say, Paul. It makes no difference, because either way, I really don't believe you." "Why's that?" "'Cause since this whole thing with Stephanie started, I really am having a hard time trusting you again." "But nothing happened. I don't have any feelings for Steph." "I don't care." Paul closely inspected the mirror. "Is that blood or paint?" He asked, noticing that whatever substance the message had been written in was still wet. "No idea." "What makes you think it was me, anyway?" "You said the same exact thing to me during our little fight." "Oh yeah. I guess I did." "You know, I don't really care if you believe me or not, but it wasn't me. But I'll be nice to you anyway and call Vince and tell him to call the cops so they can check this thing out." "Fine, although I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself."  
  
"Well, the police say that it wasn't blood. That it's only paint," Vince said later on that night. "But whoever did it was good, they left no evidence, no fingerprints, no nothing. It could have been anyone." "But it's not me." Paul broke in, yet again attempting to prove his innocence. "Whatever, Paul." "Even though it could very well have been Paul, I highly doubt it was." "Ha! Told ya!" Paul said, sounding much more like a child than a grown man. "That proves nothing. Besides, if it wasn't you, then who was it?" "I dunno. But I'm gonna try to figure that out." Vince interrupted. "If you can." "Well, maybe I can't, but the cops can." "Hopefully." Joanie said as Vince walked off. "Now do you believe me?" "Paul." Joanie said; sounding annoyed. "You know, I wouldn't be too surprised if you did it. You know, you figure you make up some message thing, try to put yourself into the innocent victim role so I will feel sorry for you and we can just forget this whole thing ever happened." Paul seemed very satisfied with what he had just said, but he could see the anger growing in Joanie's eyes and before he knew it she slapped him across the face as hard as she could. "Hey.you know. It could be true!" Paul said, rubbing his red face as Joanie stormed off.  
  
"So, did you talk to Paul?" Sean said once he saw Joanie in the lobby at the hotel later on that night. He could see by the tears in her eyes that thing didn't go well, but there was still hope. "Yes." She said curtly, not really in the mood to talk to anyone right now. "And?" "He says he needs some time to think over everything that happened. He also said that I shouldn't talk to him until he's done thinking about things." "Well, it could have been worse. He could have just dumped you, right then and there." "You know, Sean, I'm really beginning to think of just breaking things off." "Why? Because of one little fight?" "No, its more than that. A lot more. He just seems to be acting, I don't know...different. He's acting really weird, and very defensive of his side of the story. He thinks that he's right and I'm wrong. He thinks that I owe him an apology." "It should be the other way around." "Yeah, I know. But he just doesn't see that. He doesn't want to see that." "Well, you probably shouldn't break up with him. At least not yet. Just give him a little bit of time." "I guess I'll do that. Thanks again, Sean. You know, you seem to be giving me a lot of advice lately." "Well, I'm just trying to help." "Well, I appreciate it." She said, hugging him. And that feeling he felt earlier came back again. "No problem. I'm just trying to be there as your friend." "I really do appreciate it. Well, I'm tired. I'm gonna get going." "Okay, bye." 


	6. Chapter 5

~Chapter 5~  
  
Joanie had to admit, she was a little scared when she arrived at the arena the next morning. Despite the fact that Paul was with her, she was still scared. Besides, its not like Paul was much help anyway. He still refused to speak to her, and hadn't said a word to her since she slapped him across the face. Joanie regretted doing that, but she was so appalled by what he had said to her that she just reacted. She wanted to apologize, but figured that it was just useless; Paul would probably just ignore her anyway. She didn't know what it would take it fix this, but she hoped that sooner or later Paul would realize how stupid this fight really was and this whole thing would end. But that didn't appear to be happening anytime soon.  
When the estranged couple arrived at the arena, Paul went his separate way and Joanie went in the other direction. She was happy to be rid of him, for now, at least. When she entered her locker room, she was surprised to find how nervous she was. After all, maybe that message wasn't meant for her.or maybe it was. When she opened the door, however, it seemed to be yesterday all over again. The same message was written on her mirror again, and was written so meticulously that it looked identical to yesterday's message. Joanie was so confused and startled by the message repeating itself that the next thing she knew the lights when out. She felt something flying at her, and ducked just in time.  
Suddenly, the lights went back on again. Joanie then found out that she hadn't escaped the incident unscathed. Her arm was deeply gouged and was bleeding badly. She found a bloody knife next to her on the floor. She wasn't sure what had just happened; after all, there weren't any windows in the room and only one door. Whoever had just attacked her had been quick. She couldn't help but wonder if perhaps it was the stalker that had kidnapped Dwayne and Terri that was after her. But he would have just gotten her too; he wouldn't be playing around like this. A sharp bolt of pain shot through her arm all of a sudden, bringing her out of her thoughts. She quickly left the room and searched for a sink to wash the blood off her arm.  
While she was searching for a sink, dripping blood down the hallway, she ran into Sean yet again. "Joanie, what happened to your arm?" He asked, his eyes widening as he saw the injury. "Actually, I'm not quite sure." "C'mon, we gotta try to get that cleaned up." He said quickly, leading her to the nearest bathroom. "Sean, this is the men's room." Joanie said, once they arrived to the bathroom. "Oh, well. Don't look at anybody and you'll be fine." "Hi, Mike." Joanie said, seeing on of her close friends, Mike Hickenbottom. "Hi, Joanie. What are you doing in the men's room?" "I had a little accident." Joanie said pointing to the large gouge with her good arm. "Oh, how'd that happen?" "Long story."  
  
Soon, Joanie's arm was bandaged up and actually feeling a little bit better. She was so grateful to Sean, who seemed to be doing nothing but helping her as of late. She kind of felt bad, like she owed him something, but it had been nothing but ironic that they had kept meeting whenever she was having problems. Her problems did seem to be multiplying, however. "Thanks, again, Sean." "Hey, its no problem. What do you think, I was just gonna walk away and let you bleed?" "No, but." Joanie's words were cut off because suddenly, Paul emerged on the scene, looking worried. "Oh.hi Paul.what are you doing here?" "I was looking all over for you! What happened?" "Well, its gonna seem crazy, but.well the 'I hate you' message was on my mirror again and then suddenly, the lights went off. And when they came back on, I had this." She said, showing him the injury. "Why didn't you look for me?!" "Because you said you weren't talking to me." "So you go to Sean for help?" He said, as he yelled at Sean until he got him to leave. "Hey, he was the first person who I found. I would have looked for you, but we're not getting along." "Yeah, so?" "Never mind." "You should have talked to me! This is a serious injury! You could have busted a vein or something! And then what?!" "Paul, calm down." Vince said, coming toward both of them. Sean had talked to Vince and he had called the cops. "Look, Joanie, Paul's right. The injury was serious. And so far, we don't have a clue who could've been behind this. It could have been the stalker.but I don't know." "Its okay, Vince. Just take your time with finding out who it is. There's no rush." "You know, Vince, I think Joanie deserves the night off." Paul said. "I agree. Joanie, you just go back to the hotel and relax for the rest of the night." "Nah, I think I'll just stay here." "Okay. Fine. Bye, you two. Try to get along." Vince said, walking off. "That is so embarrassing." "What?" "Our own boss, giving us relationship advice." "It wasn't advice, and who cares, Joanie?" Paul seemed surprised as, all of a sudden, Joanie walked off, fed up with him and his attitude.  
Things continued like that for the rest of the night. The car ride back to the hotel was long and quiet. Paul didn't turn on the radio; he just drove in silence. Never once did he ask her how her arm was doing. Joanie had kind of hoped that he would, but didn't expect it. And that night at the hotel, Paul seemed to disappear out of sight, and Joanie didn't bother looking for him. She saw Sean again in the hallway, and felt that she had to apologize for Paul's thoughtless actions earlier. "Hey, its okay. Paul seems to have a really bad attitude lately." "That's 'cause he thinks if he acts mean enough to me, he'll force me to apologize. Which isn't gonna happen." "Oh.so how's your arm?" "Good, thanks for asking. I'm glad at least somebody cares." "What, Paul didn't ask you?" "Nope." "Wow, that's surprising, especially since he seemed so concerned about you earlier." "He was pretending to be concerned. He doesn't want everyone to know we're fighting." "Like I don't already know." "I know. It's pointless."  
  
Paul was nervous as he stood outside the door, and was surprised that his heart was pounding. Very slowly, he knocked on the door, only to get a response after the first knock. And there she was; and somehow, Paul knew exactly what he had to do. "Hey, Paul." "Hey, Stephanie. Listen, remember how a while ago you said that if I ever changed my mind about us, that I should tell you?" "Yeah." "Well.I changed my mind." 


	7. Chapter 6

~Chapter 6~  
  
It was late at night and finally almost everyone had left to go back to the hotel. Now Sean had some time to think, which was good, because he had a lot on his mind. It hadn't taken him very long to discover that he had feelings for Joanie, which wasn't good, however, it is what it is. He was really upset because of everything that had been going on with Joanie and Paul; it had affected Joanie very much and Sean felt that she didn't deserve it. So maybe he was in love with her...okay, forget the maybe, he definitely was, no doubt about that. But he wouldn't tell anyone, especially not Kevin and Scott, because he knew that if he did, everyone would wind up knowing, including Paul. He felt guilty for falling for his best friend's girlfriend, but things didn't seem to be going to well for Paul and Joanie so he really wasn't that worried. Sean yawned and was brought out of his thoughts. He decided that he better get going, and so he did.  
Joanie had been waiting for Paul for two hours. She had no idea where he was, he hadn't called or anything, and she was getting annoyed. Joanie looked at the digital clock on the nightstand, and tried to decipher the blurry numbers. Her eyes were getting sore from constantly looking at the clock and then the door, waiting for Paul to walk in. 2:57 in the morning. Joanie was getting tired and was ready to fall asleep when, suddenly, Paul emerged from the door she had been watching for a few hours now. "Finally! Where were you, Paul?" "Um.how's your arm?" He asked, trying to change the subject. "Fine. Now where were you?" "You, know, you look really beautiful tonight." He said, kissing her. But it wasn't going to work. "Paul?" "You look tired." "Well, I'm not." "But I am. So I'm gonna get some sleep. We can talk in the morning, okay?" "No, it's not okay. Paul, what's going on? Why can't you tell me where you were?" "I can." "Go ahead, then. Nothing's stopping you." "I was um.out." "Out where?" "Out.with Vince. Yeah, I was out with Vince." "Doing what?" "Talking." "About?" "Important matters. Nothing that really matters." "You weren't with Vince." "Yes, I was." "No, you weren't." Joanie tried to quickly think of all the places he could have been. Then it hit her. "You were with Stephanie, weren't you?" She asked, her voice growing shakier with each word. "Um..yeah, I was." Paul admitted; sounding defeated. "Paul, how could you do this to me?" Joanie asked as tears formed in her eyes. "I dunno.I just.I." "Get out." "What?!" Paul asked, incredulous. "You heard me. Get out." "Fine, but you're nothing without me, Joanie," were his final words as he stormed out of the room. Joanie collapsed against the door, sobbing.  
  
Sean had just arrived at the hotel. As he was walking through the hallway to get to his room, he saw Paul, walking as fast as he possibly could, and he had his bags with him. "Paul, what's going on?" "Huh?" Paul said, just brushing past Sean. He grabbed Paul's shoulder, forcing him to stop. Paul then turned to face Sean. "Where are you going?" "To my room," he said, his voice heavy with anger. "What about Joanie?" "What about her?" Paul asked, and was on his way. It didn't take Sean long to figure out that something terrible had just happened.  
Sean rushed to Joanie's hotel room as fast as he possibly could. He pounded eagerly on the door, awaiting a response. "Who is it?" "It's Sean." "Come in." Sean came in and saw that Joanie was crying. He pretty much knew what happened, but decided to ask anyway. "So, what happened?" "Paul left.he was with Stephanie." "I'm so sorry." "It's not your fault," she said, wiping away a tear. "I just can't believe this is happening." Sean really didn't know what to say to that, but just simply wrapped his arms around her and held her. 


	8. Chapter 7

~Chapter 7~  
  
Sean ended up staying with Joanie the entire night. It's not like he minded, he could have stayed with her like this forever. Not like he would ever tell her that, or anyone else, for that matter. The last thing that Sean wanted to happen was for Joanie to find out his true feelings for her, especially now, especially after everything that had just happened. Sean knew that Joanie was going through a tough time right now; Paul was her whole life, and with him gone, it left a huge void, a void Sean wanted to fill, whether he was her friend, or even something more. It was early that morning, and they still had a show to get to, though Sean wasn't fully convinced that Joanie would feel like going anywhere. "So, you ready to go?" Sean asked, figuring it was worth a try. "Yeah, but I don't have a ride.I'd always travel with Paul." "Well, if you want, you can travel with me from now on. But only if you want to. I don't wanna force you or anything." "I'd love to." Joanie said, almost smiling. "Alright."  
  
When Sean and Joanie arrived at the arena that morning, Kevin was eager to talk to Sean. "Hey, guess what? The rumor goin' around is that Paul and Joanie broke up." "It's not a rumor." Joanie said. "Oh.well, I guess you would know the truth. But." "But what?" Sean interrupted. "Well, there is another little rumor goin' around, and, well, the rumor is that Joanie cheated on Paul." "That's not true either! Paul must have made that up.either him or Stephanie." "So what exactly happened, Joanie?" "He decided that he wanted to be with Stephanie more than he wanted to be with me. And so now it's over." Joanie said, trying to sound confident about it. "So the rumor was true!" Scott said, emerging from around the corner. "About Paul and I breaking up? Yes. About me cheating on him? No." "Oh.well, I was talking about the first rumor. And, I didn't believe the other one for a second." "Yes you did!" Kevin said matter-of-factly. "Okay.maybe.but for just a second." "What rumor?" Mike asked, joining up with his friends. "About Joanie cheating on Paul." Scott told him. "Oh, yeah.that..I didn't even know you guys broke up." "Well, we did. But only last night." Joanie said. "So are you still in love with him?" Kevin asked Joanie, eager to get as much information as possible about this whole situation between Joanie and Paul. "Yeah, after you've been with somebody for a really long time, you just don't forget about them overnight." "Ya know, you could probably get him back if you wanted to.." "I don't really think so, Kev. He's kinda in love with Stephanie now." "Well, you could if you tried." "Look, I don't exactly feel like talking about this right now, okay Kevin?" Joanie said, but before he could reply, she was gone. "Joanie." Sean called after her, about to go get her. "Just let her go. She needs space right now." Scott said, and Sean simply just nodded. "So.when are you gonna ask Joanie out?" "Huh?" Sean asked, confused. "C'mon, Sean, its obvious that you're falling for her." "So obvious!" Scott chimed in. "Well, you're wrong, 'cause I don't." "Yeah, you do." "No, I don't." "Okay then.then I guess you wouldn't mind if I went out with her." "I would!" "Aha! So admit! You do like her!" "No.maybe.yeah." "I knew it! So why didn't you tell me?" "'Cause I.I just kinda figured it myself." "I know, falling in love is tough." Scott added. "And the last time you had a girlfriend was." "Okay, okay. Forget I said anything." "So, when are you gonna ask her out?" "Not now.not after everything that just happened with Paul." "So when?" "I dunno. Not anytime soon.that's for sure. Maybe never." "Awwww.that's no fun!" "Oh well." "Tell her now.or maybe I'll tell her." "Kev, you wouldn't do that!" "I know. So when will you tell her?" "I dunno, but when I do, you'll be the first to know." "What about me?" Scott asked. "You'll be second." "You know, I think that you guys are being really immature. This is Sean's personal life, and you guys are prying into it." Mike said. "Thank you!" "But hey, can I be third?" "Yeah, sure. But you guys gotta promise not to tell." "Promise." All three men said in unison. "Good."  
  
Joanie couldn't believe how rude Kevin had been back there. He was totally ruthless, but he wanted the details of the breakup, and he had gotten them. She wasn't even sure why she had come in today, she was exhausted, and she was about to fall asleep right now. To stay awake, she decided to take a little walk, alone, away from everyone else. That's when she saw him. Paul was walking with Stephanie, and he said something to her and they both started laughing. And then, as if he saw Joanie there and wanted to make her jealous, he kissed Stephanie in a brief display of passion. So there it was, the man she was with for what seemed like forever, gone, out of her life, and already moving on. It was disgusting.  
She had to get away. What she had just seen was too much too soon; in fact, if she never saw Paul again she would be happy. But the fact that they both worked in the same company made that seemingly impossible. She was still shocked at what had just happened.it had seemed like they had been together for years rather than just a little over twenty-four hours. It made Joanie wonder how long he was dating her behind her back. She thoughtlessly ran out into the pitch-black parking lot. The cold, fresh air felt good, as she filled her lungs with it. Her only intention now was to get out of here, no matter what. So she began the quest to find Sean's car in the lightless parking lot.  
She began walking.and that's when she heard someone behind her. Maybe she was going crazy, she thought, and then stopped. The sound of footsteps lurking so close halted, too. When she picked up the pace again, she could hear the sound again, right behind her. "Hello?" She called out, than realized that she just gave herself away to whoever was out there. They could easily find her now. She felt fear cover her like a blanket, consuming her. She began to run, and swore she felt someone's breath along the back of her neck along with the footsteps. Then she found the car, but, she realized all of a sudden that she wouldn't be safe there, either. The car was locked, and she didn't have a key. Out of options, she ran back into the building, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the light. "Joanie! Are you alright? I've been looking all over for you." "Yeah, I'm fine.I.I." Joanie stopped speaking and attempted to catch her breath. "What happened? What were you doing out there?" "I saw Paul with Stephanie, and.and.I dunno. I guess it was just too much. Plus there's someone out there in the parking lot!" "Really?" Sean said. "Yeah, unless I'm going crazy.which you probably think already happened." "Nah, I don't think that. You're under a lot of stress." "So you don't believe me?" "I do. Completely. C'mon. Let's go." 


	9. Chapter 8

~Chapter 8~  
  
"So, when do you wanna get married?" Joanie asked Sean. "I dunno. Does it matter?" He asked, kissing her passionately. "No, not really. So do you want the wedding to be big, small?" "Small." "Yeah, that sounds good.but how many people?" "Thirty..each." "That's not very small." "I know, I was just kidding. Who do you wanna invite?" Riiiiiiiiiiiing! Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing! Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing! The phone woke Sean out of his dream, right when it was getting good. Half- asleep, he glanced at the clock to see what time it was, it was a little after four. Wow, what a dream that had been, he thought to himself. It had seemed so real, so lifelike, it was like you could just reach out and touch it. Sean tried to hold onto the memory of the dream now because soon, he would forget about it and it would vanish. Yet again, the phone brought him out of his thoughts and back into reality.  
"Hello?" Sean said, sounding dreary even though by now he was completely awake.  
"Sean? Finally, you answer the phone!"  
"Well, I'm sorry Kev, but I normally aren't up at four in the morning to answer the phone."  
"I know, and I'm sorry for callin' so late but we got an emergency on our hands."  
"What?"  
"Scott's in the hospital," Kevin said, without much expression; he wasn't very surprised.  
"Oh no, what happened this time? Was he drunk driving?"  
"Nope, he claimed he was attacked."  
"By who?"  
"He said that he doesn't know who. He said it was dark, and they just attacked him out of nowhere. Doesn't make very much sense, though, if it was the kidnapper, like Scott says it might be. Why would he just attack Scott? Why wouldn't the person just take him away like everyone else?"  
"I dunno. Are you sure he wasn't drunk or hallucinating or something?"  
"Yeah, pretty much."  
  
"So what's the damage?"  
"Broken arm, cuts, bruises. Nothin' too serious, ya know? He just said that its mandatory that I'm at the hospital with him, because he doesn't feel safe by himself."  
"So you decided to drag me along with you?"  
"Exactly. So.did you ask her out yet?"  
"No, Kevin. Nothing changed.although I did have a dream about her last night."  
"Really? Well, that certainly counts as a change. What about?"  
"Us getting married. It was really realistic too."  
"And a sign that you two should be together."  
"But it won't happen."  
"Why? Because you're scared?" Kevin asked, all of a sudden becoming very angry. "Because you think that she may not have feelings for you too, that you may be rejected? Well, the only way you're gonna find out if she has feelings for you or not is if you ask her, and if you're too afraid to take the chance, then you'll never know!"  
"I was gonna tell her..eventually."  
"When? When she's getting married to some other guy, or maybe never?"  
"No.I was just waiting for the right time."  
"Well, guess what, Sean? That right time is never gonna just come on its own. You have to decide when the right time is."  
"Okay, okay. So are we going to see Scott or not?"  
"Yeah, we are. Meet me at the hospital," Kevin said, cooling down now. Sean was really confused as to why Kevin would suddenly have an attitude about a matter that he couldn't control and really wasn't any of his business. He wanted to know, but now didn't seem like such a great time to ask him why he was freaking out about Sean's personal life when he couldn't do a thing about it, so he didn't." "All right. I just gotta call Joanie and tell her to get a ride with someone else." "Okay, call your girlfriend. I'll meet you at the hospital." He repeated, then hung up before Sean could start lecturing him about he and Joanie not being together.  
"Hello?" Joanie said once Sean called her. She sounded just as tired as he had when Kevin called him just a little while ago.  
"Hey Joanie, its me, Sean. Did I wake you up?"  
"Yeah, but I was gonna have to get up sooner or later."  
"Listen, Scott's in the hospital and he and Kev wanted me to go visit him so could you get a ride from someone else today?"  
"Scott's in the hospital?"  
"Yeah."  
"What happened?"  
"He said he was attacked. I don't really know if that's entirely true, though."  
"Oh."  
"Hey, do you want to go to the hospital with me?"  
"Really? Sure, why not."  
"Okay, I'll meet you out in the parking lot, then."  
"Alright, bye."  
Sean couldn't believe he had just said that. And that she had said yes. It seemed as far and distant as that dream this morning, which was slowly fading into the darkness of forgotten memories. Okay, so it wasn't like a date, it wasn't anything like a date, but she had said yes, and that was all that mattered right now. Sean got dressed, and, all of a sudden it occurred to him that Joanie wasn't even really that close with Scott. Okay, so she knew him, they were co-workers, of course she knew him. But she didn't really know him. She definitely didn't consider him as one of her friends, and vice versa. So maybe..just maybe, she said yes to spend time with Sean. Maybe she did have feelings for him. He didn't know for sure, but somehow, it just didn't seem like she was going to the hospital just to see Scott.  
  
"I am so happy that you all came to see me!" Scott exclaimed once everyone got there. "Especially since its so early in the morning. Thank you, I really appreciate it."  
"So what exactly happened, Scott?" Sean asked him, eager to know at least some of the story. For all he knew, Scott could have been drunk and walked into a wall or something.  
"Well, Sean, I'll tell ya the same thing that I told Vince and the police. I was attacked. I don't know by who, or why, all I know is that I was attacked."  
"Are you sure?" Kevin asked, not entirely convinced of Scott's wishy- washy story.  
"Yes! Positive! You just don't wake up with a broken arm and bruises! I was attacked! That's all I know!"  
"I dunno..I think he's hallucinating." Kevin said; Sean nodded his approval with the idea.  
"I am not! I know that the story doesn't sound believable but I'm telling the truth!"  
"Okay, Scott, we believe you," Kevin said, walking off. "I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be right back."  
"Sooo," Scott began, "you guys going out?"  
"No! Who told you that?" Joanie asked, speaking up after being silent all this time.  
"Sean."  
"I did not!" Sean yelled in protest. "Why would I say that if its not true?!"  
"Well, I thought that's what you said."  
"Is that what this is all about?" Joanie asked, enraged, and the stormed out.  
"Joanie wait.this is all your fault, Scott! I hope you're happy!"  
"Joanie wait! It really is my fault. They put me on all these medications! I'm not thinking straight!" But it was hopeless. 


	10. Chapter 9

~Chapter 9~  
  
Kevin came back from the bathroom, and could sense that something bad had happened when he was gone.  
"Yo, you guys, what happened?"  
"You wanna know what happened?" Sean asked, sounding a bit sarcastic.  
"Nothing happened!" Scott insisted, although he himself knew this wasn't true.  
"Really." Kevin said, skeptical.  
"No, actually.okay, I said Sean and Joanie were going out, and.apparently they aren't going out, but I thought they were.and, Joanie is mad at Sean now, and he's blaming this all on me.but it's not really my fault..."  
"Not really your fault?!" Sean yelled, "Then, please Scott, tell me who's fault it really is?"  
"Well, whatever happened, he didn't get that idea offa me." Kevin added.  
"I said I'm being heavily medicated, I am, I hardly even remember what we're talking about!"  
"Oh, so you're gonna use that as an excuse?" Sean asked.  
"No..well.."  
"And you guys were gonna be something too..nice job, Scott."  
"I already apologized.what more could you want?"  
"Look, Sean," Kevin began, ignoring Scott's question, "Maybe its not too late.just explain what happened, explain that Scott is on all sorts of stuff, and then maybe things will be okay.."  
"You really think so?"  
"Yeah, don't let Scott screw this up."  
  
Sean found Joanie back at the arena, and he could clearly see that she was distraught. He felt really bad all of a sudden; like it was his fault, but it wasn't, it was Scott's. It wasn't even really that big a deal; all he had to do was explain exactly what had happened, and then hopefully things would be good again, hopefully.  
"I can't believe you." Joanie said.  
"Look, you don't even understand what happened."  
"Then what did happen?"  
"Scott somehow misunderstood the whole thing. He thought that just because you came to hospital with me that we were going out."  
"And what would make him think that?"  
"Well, maybe I told him that I had feelings for you."  
"What?"  
"I said maybe!"  
"But do you?"  
"Yeah. And I'm really, really sorry about all this." He said, and then suddenly, out of nowhere, he kissed her. He didn't know what came over him, it just happened. Then he was gone.  
"It's okay." Joanie said, her heart racing.  
  
"So are you sure this is gonna work?"  
"Yes, trust me, if everything goes right, then she won't get out of this alive."  
  
"So, explain this to me again. What exactly happened?" Mike asked Sean a few days later.  
"Well, I just told her what happened, then I told her how I felt about her, then it just kinda happened."  
"Alright Sean! Good job! See, I told ya not to let Scott screw this up." Kevin said.  
"Yeah, well, thanks for the advice."  
"So, where exactly does this leave you two?"  
"I dunno."  
"Well, you'll know soon enough." Mike added.  
  
Joanie had been feeling that same familiar, yet scary feeling all morning that someone was watching her. And with this guy who had been after her lately, it made that feeling even more credible. But right now, she didn't let it get to her. She was still absolutely shocked over that kiss a few days ago. It had happened so fast, it didn't even seem real. But it was; it had happened and it was real. Joanie didn't know what was going to happen now; they obviously couldn't remain friends, not after that, but something was going to happen for sure.  
The door to her locker room wouldn't open, and as she fumbled with the doorknob, she felt someone behind her. She turned around and elbowed whoever it was right in the face. They were wearing a mask and black clothes; this helped them remain totally invisible in the dark. The person took of the mask, revealing who it was.  
"Stephanie?!" Joanie asked, shocked.  
"Yes, it was me!" She said, suddenly addressing her nosebleed.  
"But why?"  
"First, it was to get you away from Paul, but after we got together, it was just fun ."  
"I can't believe this!"  
"So? What are you gonna do? You can't tell Daddy, he's gonna be on my side and you'll just end up getting fired! So what are you gonna do?"  
"Well, your dad may be my boss, but the cops sure aren't."  
"You're gonna have me arrested?!"  
"Sure, if it'll get you away from me."  
"No! You can't do that!"  
"Actually, I can."  
"Please don't! I'll do whatever it takes so you don't!"  
"Fine. You stop harassing me."  
"Fine."  
"No more of this stalking business, no more trying to attack me, or kill me, or whatever your intent was. You have Paul, now just leave me alone. Okay?"  
"Yes, sure, whatever it takes." 


End file.
